source file: mills3.txt Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 22:34:07 +0200 Subject: RE: "Blackwood's proof" From: "Paul H. Erlich" I don't think Blackwood really said anything new here. The point is that, at least for early works, the Western common practice idiom works in any tuning where the syntonic comma vanishes. Only in such tunings is it possible to construct a diatonic scale where all thirds are 5-limit consonances. So JI and ETs 15, 22, 34, 41, 53 are all no-gos, but any meantone tuning including ETs 12, 19, 31, 43, 50, and 55 is OK (with some provision, perhaps, for exaggerated leading tones). The former tunings require one to insert comma inflections into the score to avoid wolves, with the typical result of a piece drifting several commas away from its initial key, and in tunings where the syntonic (pseudo-)comma is large, messing with the thematic integrity of the development of essentially heptatonic ideas. Of course, once enharmonic equivalents (i.e., vanishing diminished seconds) enter the repertoire, some variant of 12-tET is necessary for a truthful interpretation. I don't think we need a Blackwood or anyone else to prove this to us! To me, this is all the more reason for modern microtonalists to focus on the "forbidden" tunings; the challenge is to find a perhaps non-heptatonic framework, possibly using higher than 5-limit harmony, for thematic development. Certainly Blackwood's own attempt at composing in 22-tET makes the case against trying to adhere to traditional harmonic/melodic practice in that tuning. I think Schonberg may have been right that diatonicism had been played out, but in abandoning the concepts of tonality and scale he threw the baby out with the bathwater. Many of the octatonic experiments of the post-tonal composers are a nice middle ground between controlled and emancipated dissonance and between tonality, polytonality, and atonality. But what if these composers could write in 15-tET, where similar symmetrical scales actually allow for circle-of-fifths chords progressions as well as better 7-limit tetrads? The 12-tone system forced the serious, innovative composers into an increasingly academic corner as the vast majority of music lovers gravitated toward recyclings of older ideas that their ears could still digest. The 20th century was an amazing century for Western music primarily due to the incorporation of non-Western influences. Perhaps the 21st will see a breaking down of the 12-tone barrier and a flood of new tonal ideas. Today is my last day as a full-time employee of an investment company. I already spend almost all my free time playing music, and virtually all of that is 12-tone. My latest 4-track improvisation is some sort of octatonic funk music; novel perhaps but not revolutionary by any stretch. With more free time, I hope to kick myself into putting some serious time into exploring microtonal realms. It's hard what with all the great musicians around playing 12-tone; I'll have to say, "No sorry, can't play with you today, gotta go home and play microtonal by myself." Will I do it? I don't know. It's a pretty tough barrier to break in the musical culture we're living in. I'm off to NY and SF for two weeks, hopefully for some inspiration. In the meantime, happy tuning! SMTPOriginator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu From: Carter Scholz Subject: Re MIDI Tuning Spec PostedDate: 01-10-97 05:53:32 SendTo: CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH ReplyTo: tuning@eartha.mills.edu $MessageStorage: 0 $UpdatedBy: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=coul1358/OU=AT/O=EZH,CN=Manuel op de Coul/OU=AT/O=EZH RouteServers: CN=notesrv2/OU=Server/O=EZH,CN=notesrv1/OU=Server/O=EZH RouteTimes: 01-10-97 05:53:06-01-10-97 05:53:06,01-10-97 05:52:02-01-10-97 05:52:03 DeliveredDate: 01-10-97 05:52:03 Categories: $Revisions: Received: from ns.ezh.nl ([137.174.112.59]) by notesrv2.ezh.nl (Lotus SMTP MTA SMTP v4.6 (462.2 9-3-1997)) with SMTP id C1256523.0015551C; Wed, 1 Oct 1997 05:53:00 +0200 Received: by ns.ezh.nl; (5.65v3.2/1.3/10May95) id AA03274; Wed, 1 Oct 1997 05:53:32 +0200 Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 05:53:32 +0200 Received: from ella.mills.edu by ns (smtpxd); id XA03258 Received: (qmail 673 invoked from network); 30 Sep 1997 20:53:28 -0700 Received: from localhost (HELO ella.mills.edu) (127.0.0.1) by localhost with SMTP; 30 Sep 1997 20:53:28 -0700 Message-Id: <199710010351.UAA13587@well.com> Errors-To: madole@mills.edu Reply-To: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Originator: tuning@eartha.mills.edu Sender: tuning@eartha.mills.edu